Mr. Stillman's Opus

For most people, investing strategies change as you age because you want to protect what you’ve earned rather than chasing bigger returns. But what if you have more than you’ll need for retirement in your IRA? Is that a time when being aggressive makes sense or should you still take a more conservative approach?

In this video, we’ll be answering a question we recently received with this scenario:

I’m in my 70s and it doesn’t seem t...

As much as any other threat, recognizing and avoiding scams has become a necessary skill for today’s retirees to develop. Technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, which makes it more and more difficult to stay on top of the latest scams. This episode will highlight the most common financial scams being used right now to help you better recognize when you’re being targeted.

Join us as we explore crucial steps you can take to ...

It’s not all that uncommon to hear from someone who was given the option of a severance package and pension buyout years ahead of when they actually planned on leaving work to retire. Is it worth taking the offer and leaving your job or does it make more sense to continue working?

We received a question recently from someone in this situation:

I’m 60 and have been given two options at work. Keep working and retire in 5-6 years wi...

A common area where people struggle with their finances is simply just making decisions. It’s easy to fall into the trap of overthinking, to the point where you talk yourself into circles and fail to ever make a choice. You’ve probably heard the phrase ‘paralysis by analysis’ before but it often applies to the financial industry as well.

We have a scenario that we want to share and work through in this video: It seems like every ...

It’s not uncommon for someone to retire early but still not feel totally comfortable with the idea of not earning a consistent paycheck. It’s a complete shift in thinking and unless you’ve done solid planning, there might be a little doubt still lingering in your mind.

So how do you know when you have enough to retire? Better yet, how do you get the confidence to spend the money you have in retirement without the fear of running ...

Are you considering maxing out your 401(k) but unsure what to do next? We face this question all the time at Rosewood Wealth Management so today we want to explore if it’s wise to max out your 401(k) before investing anywhere else, and if it is, where to look if you want to save even more.

It’s a good conversation to have early in the year as you make plans for your retirement contributions over the next 12 months. Having said that...

The future of Social Security continues to be a cause for concern if you read the headlines, but should you be concerned about the reality of the program going bankrupt?

With so many retirees relying heavily on Social Security for income, there’s plenty of reason to take notice and ask the question. In this episode, we’ll help you better understand the reasons money is projected to run out sometime in the 2030s by using a triangle ...

Today we’re going to answer a question that a lot of people are asking when it comes to retirement planning and that’s when should you do a 401k rollover? You’ve probably heard that it’s usually best to move money out of an old 401k account, but does the timing matter?

In this episode, we’ll talk about the qualifying events that need to occur in order to give you the option for a 401k rollover. Then we’ll tell you about the four ma...

We’re finishing up our estate planning series with Tim Nordgren, an attorney at SchellBray in Chapel Hill, with a discussion today on what could go wrong if we don’t have the main planning documents in place. Then we’ll wrap up with some of his estate planning horror stories that he’s seen through the years.

As you heard in our previous episodes with Tim, there are four main estate planning documents: the will, the durable general ...

We’re back once again with Tim Nordgren, an attorney at SchellBray in Chapel Hill, to talk more about estate planning. Today we want to address one of the most common questions that comes up during our planning meetings and that’s whether or not someone needs a trust.

It seems like many people have been conditioned to think they need a trust, but that’s not always the case. To help us better understand some of the scenarios where a...

Today we’re joined by Tim Nordgren, an attorney at SchellBray in Chapel Hill who focuses on trusts and estates. We send people to Tim all the time and appreciate the work he does, which is why we wanted to have him explain estate documents a little further for us.

He’ll walk us through the documents needed for when doing testamentary planning or planning for incapacity and explain what each document covers.

Here are some of the t...

The role of life insurance in retirement is something many people ask about. Do you still need to keep your policy now that your children are on their own and you’ve built a nice nest egg? While that’s true, life insurance might still be able to play a valuable role in your financial plan and we’ll tell you why in this episode.  

John will run through the most common reasons people say they need life insurance and we’ll tell you wh...

We’re in the middle of one of the largest wealth transfers in our country’s history as Baby Boomers pass on their estate to loved ones, and some of that money is coming in the form of an IRA.

Rules regarding inherited IRAs have changed in the past few years so we want to bring you up to speed on what’s new. Plus, we'll walk you through some of the decisions you’ll need to make with an inherited IRA, how it impacts beneficiaries dif...

In this episode, we’ll explore many of the expenses in your life that might drastically change (one way or another) in retirement. We’ll break those expenses down further to see which ones are the top priorities and analyze some of the other factors that impact your cash flow in retirement.

Here are some of the things you’ll learn in this episode:

• Will your work-related expenses like gas and clothes really change as much as y...

When you think about a family’s assets in retirement, few are more important than the home. Not only is it typically the most expensive thing a person owns, but it also carries a lot of emotional attachment with it.

Once you reach retirement, you’re likely going to have a few things to consider with your home, and people often go in one of four different directions: stay in their home, move to a new home, bec...

Our three-part series on marriage and money wraps up today with a look at the financial decisions that often happen during the divorce process. This is going to be a highly emotional and difficult process for those involved, which makes the financial aspect of this process even more challenging.

We’ll walk you through a few of the items that will need to be addressed like dividing assets, child support, and updating documents. Then...

Money plays a significant role in the health of a relationship and life events like marriage and remarriage require us to have honest conversations about finances when we take these steps in life.

In this episode, we’re going to spend time discussing the items that need attention when you get remarried. There are some common themes and considerations as your first marriage, but things like combining finances and joint accounts will...

Some of life’s biggest events come with important financial decisions and marriage might be at the top of the list. Many of the arguments in a relationship start because of disagreements about money, which is why it’s so important to have a conversation about money and managing finances before your wedding day.

In this episode, John will provide some financial guidance and useful tips for how to approach these topics with your spou...

Have you ever wondered why you handle money the way you do? It turns out your financial behaviors can be traced back to your formative memories. Key events throughout our lives shape the way we view money.

In this episode, we explore how historic market crashes have left a lasting impact on our relationship with money. We’ll also contrast them with the way more recent crises have shaped our financial views and decisions in the shor...